Drop in oil pressure and ticking. HELP!!

[msp14]

Ok I've had my msp for about a year now and I've this past year my oil pressure has been dropping. When I start it up in the mornings or a cold start the oil pressure sits at abou 50 which is good, after the car warms up it drops to about 20 when im cruising and when I stop it would sit at about 5 or 10. Now it's getting worse and dropping below 0 sometimes, it's starting to worry me. And there is this ticking that has gotten louder over time, when I get in the gas it ticks faster. I'm thinking that my motor might be wore out and needs a rebuild but I was wondering if anybody knew if it could be something else before I go assuming that's what needs to be fixed, the car only has 120k miles on it. Had a boost controller hooked up to it when I bought it but I took that off cause I know the danger it could do to my internals so I'm sure the previous owner had the boost turned up. Does anybody have any other ideas on what it might be?

 

[msp14]

Ok so I've found out that it is worse when it's hot outside and when I'm using ac, whenever I use ac it will drop below 0 when I'm cruising around town. I honestly think my motor is wore out and needs a rebuild

 

[BRIAN_MP5T]

The AC will lower the idle speed, which will further reduce the oil pressure.

Have you thought about replacing the oil pump?

 

[msp14]

The AC will lower the idle speed, which will further reduce the oil pressure.

Have you thought about replacing the oil pump?

Yea I thought about it but would that have something to do with the ticking? The more I get in the gas the faster an louder it ticks

 

[SCMP3]

The ticking is your lifters not getting oil.

 

[mebarsh]

what weight oil are you running

 

[msp14]

what weight oil are you running

5w30 talked to a few people today and they said run a thicker oil and replace my rod barings. I think it's about time to just get the motor rebuilt and get forged internals

 

[SCMP3]

That's big moneys there

 

[Jspeed17]

pretty sure the factory recommends 10w-30 for our cars....low oil psi would cause lifters to tick, you could probably save your motor if you stop driving it and replace oil pump now, unless you wanna spend mucho $$$$ on building it with forged goodies

 

[msp14]

pretty sure the factory recommends 10w-30 for our cars....low oil psi would cause lifters to tick, you could probably save your motor if you stop driving it and replace oil pump now, unless you wanna spend mucho $$$$ on building it with forged goodies

That's big moneys there

If I build the motor I wasn't planning on doing it until next spring, hoping the car made it to then. But do you think that if i replace the oil pump and ran 10w-30 then te ticking and dropping oil pressure will stop? I'm up for trying everything right now because I wasn't looking forward to dumping all that money into my car this soon. I want to go forged one day though

 

[tweety2300]

You may have to re shim the lifters to get them to stop ticking. If you don't fix it soon it will end up spinning a rod bearing.

 

[msp14]

Where would a good place be to get the oil pump? Or some place that will be the cheapest

You may have to re shim the lifters to get them to stop ticking. If you don't fix it soon it will end up spinning a rod bearing.

How do you shim the lifters?

 

[tweety2300]

Go through Mazda. The last thing you want to cheap out on is the oil pump.

 

[Jasonjames]

I wouldn't go replacing the oil-pump,..they just dont give trouble to the extent you're seeing in your OPressure. I'd get the oil-pan dropped, then get the rod-bearings and crank-journals measured for wear. If it has stock internals, the turbo will tend to strain them more over time.

Early bearing noise can sound like a tick,..but it *only* happens during acceleration after it has heated up to normal temperature. These engines dont run hydraulic lifters, so any ticking noise is unlikely to be oil-pressure dependant.

best of luck with her>>JJ

 

[tweety2300]

I wouldn't go replacing the oil-pump,..they just dont give trouble to the extent you're seeing in your OPressure. I'd get the oil-pan dropped, then get the rod-bearings and crank-journals measured for wear. If it has stock internals, the turbo will tend to strain them more over time.

Early bearing noise can sound like a tick,..but it *only* happens during acceleration after it has heated up to normal temperature. These engines dont run hydraulic lifters, so any ticking noise is unlikely to be oil-pressure dependant.

best of luck with her>>JJ

Mines not...

 

[Jasonjames]

Sorry,.what did you mean ?

JJ

 

[SCMP3]

After hearing it this weekend, it's def the bearings. Less just order some rod bearings and we will change them Out.

 

[msp14]

I think what I might do is just save up money and get the motor rebuilt. I've been thinking about it and I wanted to go forged one day so I believe that's what I'm going to do. I've git to pull the whole motor out anyways. Around how much is a decent build? And if I build it I'm not taking any short cuts, I want to do it the right way.

 

[tweety2300]

5-8k +

You motor won't last long with a spun bearing

 

[Jspeed17]

Built motor with forged goodies $4-5K ish including parts and machining, and that's pulling the motor out yourself and putting it back in.